Chapter Text
“Alright. Take a seat.” Robby said, guiding Dennis into a hard plastic chair in the staff lounge with a hand on the back. “We’ll make it quick.”
Dennis was leaning forward still, pinching his nostrils shut. The CT had gone fine but a slightly too vigorous breath had him bleeding in the elevator on the way back down. Dana had just finished laying out supplies on the table they usually used for lunch, coffee prep, and existential break downs. The floor couldn’t spare an exam room today and their charge nurse wasn’t at all happy about it. Her eyes appeared laser focused on the blood spatter drying down Dennis’s chin, neck, and scrub top.
“I’m puttin’ a sign on the door so no one comes in, but I’m sending maintenance in here in 30 minutes. Hell or high water. We’re gonna deep clean the shit out of everything.” She sighed and put her hands on her hips.
“Thank you.” Robby nodded, checking over the bits and bobs Dayna had collected for him. “We’ve done worse in here, don’t worry.” He stage whispered to Dennis. Dana rolled her eyes.
“Me splinting everyone’s fingers and you relocating Langdon’s shoulders is a different ball game, Robby.” She sighed again as she gave Dennis an unexpectedly familial pat on the cheek. “Sorry about that, Whitaker. You did good.” Robby snapped some gloves on, observing the interaction with considerable amusement.
“I’m fine. Is Perlah okay?” Dennis cringed at the way his voice sounded. He released his nostrils and thanked his lucky stars the bleeding had finally stopped again.
“Barely a scratch on her. Patient is off to the drunk tank. Hopefully that’s the last we see of him for a while.”
She took her leave. The door closed but they could hear her shooing away a few med students and writing something on the whiteboard outside with slightly too much vigor that likely contained a few expletives.
“You ever had a broken nose before, Whitaker?” Robby didn’t let the silence settle.
“Yeah.” Dennis cleared his throat. “It’s been through worse. Technically not even broken this time…” It felt like a miracle that he had escaped bone damage, given how the impact of the punch had been heard clear across the floor. Dennis sucked in a breath as Robby’s gloved fingers began feeling around the outside of his nose.
Dennis bit down savagely on the inside of his cheek as a shudder slipped down his spine.
“Hurt?”
“No.” Dennis lied. Robby raised an eyebrow. His fingers gently palpitated the line of his cheekbones. Dennis had to close his eyes then. The thumbs pressing down on his temples were…a lot. Robby gently assessed the bridge of his nose and followed the line of muscle between his eyes and up to his brow with his pointer finger.
“Can I see your pupils, Whitaker?” Robby reached for his penlight and examined his eyes, leaning closer. The imaging tech had already done this. Robby had read the clinical note.
He knew that, right?
His chair creaked as he came closer, one knee bumping against the inside of Dennis’s own. “So…” Robby cleared his throat. “Double vision?”
“Nope.”
“Any pain around here?” Robby ran a finger across his eyebrow, feather light, almost accidental.
“All good. Mostly just…here.” Dennis gestured towards the end of his nose, which was blood spattered and crooked a little more to the left than usual.
“Good, good.” Robby bit the inside of his cheek, entering a deep focus. “Lean back for me.” Two fingers lifted Dennis’s chin. Having the attending look up his nostrils was…odd. Intimate in a way Dennis begged his body not to examine.
You just fucking matched, asshole. Don’t get weird now.
But Robby’s hands were so warm under the gloves.
“Sorry.” Dennis muttered.
“Whitaker.” Robby exhaled. It almost sounded like a laugh. “You’re okay.” A wave of horror passed over Dennis as he felt himself welling up at those two words. “I’m going to touch you… just inside the nostril. Let me know if you can feel this.” Robby placed a finger under each orifice, not penetrating his nose but palpitating the skin over his top lip. Dennis flinched.
“Yes. No loss of sensation.” Dennis collected himself, blinking rapidly at the ceiling, trying desperately not to think about penetration.
“I’m going to touch your septum.” The pinch was light…barely there. The cartilage was crooked and sore. The touch made Dennis shiver. Robby touched his chin again, a light brush with the side of his hand that let him know he could tilt his head down.
“Doing good.” Robby said, voice even and calm in a way that made Dennis want to squirm. “How’s the pain for real though, 0 to 10?”
“Just like…5.” Dennis admitted. “I’m more irritated than anything.” Robby chuckled at that, eyes softening.
“Any teeth feel loose?” He asked. The imaging tech had asked him this already too. Dennis ran his tongue along the top row.
“Nope.”
“Can I take a look?”
Mortification obliterated the urge to cry. Dennis opened his mouth obediently.
Robby flashed the light around. “I think I see a minor laceration. Probably from your tooth. It looks like it bled a little but stopped itself. Can you feel it?” Dennis shook his head. Robby paused, but then used his thumb to prod the location from the outside of his cheek to let him know where it was. “Can I…” Another finger touched the tip of Dennis’s tongue. The powdery plastic taste of the nitrile was cancelled out by the absurdity of the intrusion. “Yeah. Another small one here.” Robby said, in reference to his tongue. He touched the spot gently. Dennis felt drool collecting under his tongue. “No bleeding, though.” Robby withdrew his hands abruptly. Dennis suppressed the urge to cough. “How did you break your nose the first time?”
“Must have been…two or three times as a kid, I guess?” Dennis sucked in a breath. “Kind of a rough and tumble family. We probably could have racked up some extra income if anyone was doing concussion studies in our town.”
“Oh yah? Sports?”
“We were more of a ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ family.” Dennis laughed lightly. He never was quite that good at lying. Robby stopped short while changing his gloves. He looked pained in a way Dennis didn’t expect.
He abruptly remembered who he was talking to.
This wasn’t Trinity. They weren’t tucked away in their home, swapping stories from the comfort of their couch with canned cocktails in hand. Panic bubbled up his throat. “It wasn’t uh…”
Wasn’t what? Like that? Daddy broke your nose in a fun, god-honoring way? You didn’t mind? Look at what you-
“My old man was a drinker.” Robby said, cutting him off. He continued changing his gloves, tossing the ones that he had put in Dennis’s mouth. The room was so quiet they could hear the fluorescent lights buzz above them.
It wasn’t as awkward as it probably should have been. A tenuous camaraderie cast a thread between them. Robby picked up cotton swabs.
“I’m sorry.” Dennis murmured.
“I also had a pretty punchable face as a kid. Took me awhile to get tall enough to be left alone at school. I’ve done this to myself a time or two.” He explained, nodding at the busted end of Dennis’s nose.
The hair on the back of Dennis’s neck stood up. Robby wasn’t a quiet man, but he was a pretty private one. He recalled a slow simmering but claustrophobic panic following the attending like a cloak the day they met, at the mere suggestion someone had witnessed him…witnesses them…
The urge to cry returned as Robby began to clean him up. Dennis smelled sterile saline. Robby seemed closer in his field of vision. He wore a really nice, but subtle cologne.
They were both on the edges of their seats.
Robby braced a hand on Dennis’s cheek to keep him still; removing the tacky, half-dried blood from Dennis’s nose and philtrum. He moved quickly across his lips and chin before making his way down his throat.
Dennis was hypnotized.
Robby’s gaze was fixed resolutely on his work.
“Can you set it for me?” The words spilled out before Dennis could catch them. Robby’s eyes met his.
Heat.
Dennis felt it everywhere.
Robby finished cleaning with slow swipes along the collar of Dennis’s scrub top, still looking at him in the eyes.
“I wouldn’t advise it.” He said finally.
“It’s what I usually do.” Dennis shrugged. “Hate waiting. It’s been an hour and a half…I’m not swelling too badly. No breaks or fractures, just shifted cartilage.” He gestured to the print out from imaging. “I usually need help, though. I over correct on myself.” It took considerable effort to push the desperate sounding plea out of his voice. “And Trinity won’t be nice about it.” Robby hands fell away from his face again. The corner of his mouth twitched up in amusement. He examined Dennis’s nose again, leaning even closer. “Do you know how?” Dennis asked, his owns hands twitching in his lap.
“Do I know how to do a manual realignment?” Robby laughed lightly. “Yeah. I do. I should get you some pain killers first…find a spec-”
“It’s fine. Just do it. Wanna make sure it feels right.”
Robby leaned back a moment, giving Dennis a once over.
“If I don’t do it are you just gonna-“
“Get Trinity to do it in the bathroom? Yes.” Dennis prodded his own nose experimentally and winced. “I look ridiculous.”
Robby waged a brief deliberation with himself.
“Jesus Christ. Okay. If I do it and you bleed…I’m packing the nostrils. No exceptions. We’re definitely taping the exterior. You’ll wear a dressing all weekend. No street team. No risky business.”
“Done.” Dennis was privately pleased that his past strategy for broken noses wasn’t too far off their hackneyed patch job here.
Robby took his gloves off and reached for Dennis with bare hands. They were skipping steps and ignoring treatment protocols. They were spitting in the face of a lot neat tools designed specifically for injuries like these.
I like it when he breaks rules.
“Jesus. Haven’t done this in a few years.” Dennis closed his eyes. Robby held the top of his head in one hand and grasped the bridge of Dennis’s nose with the other. He gently rubbed his thumb along the side of his wounded tissue. It felt…nice. Dennis sucked in a breath through his mouth. “Are you growing your hair out?” Robby asked, giving a few curls a light tug.
“What?”
Crunch.
Robby successfully distracted him, keeping him relaxed and still. His nose jerked, slipped, and settled.
Holy fucking shit.
Dennis would have to remember that trick.
“Motherfucker…” Dennis swore and flailed. The spike of pain was disarming. His hands found purchase on Robby’s knees. Robby didn’t let go, keeping him steady. They both laughed, both taken off guard by his reaction.
“Easy, sailor.” Robby chided, thumb rubbing his nose as if he could hold back the aches and pains. They both braced for additional bleeding, but none came. Relief settled over both of them.
Dennis felt…hot…like his skin was about to start steaming.
“I am.” Dennis gasped. “Growing it out. My hair, I mean.”
“Suits you.” Robby was still smiling. He slowly released Dennis’s nose and head. ”I think I got it.” Dennis grabbed his phone and used the camera app to get a look. He sighed with relief at the restored angle to his nose.
“That feels right. Fuck.” Dennis confirmed. Air swept into his lungs with slightly less labor. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Robby nodded towards the dressing on the table. “Any dizziness?”
“No.”
“Good.” Robby lined his pinky up with the bridge of Dennis’s nose. “I’m gonna put a strip of moleskin padding here and tape everything down. Do you have more of that at home?”
“Yeah. We’re well-stocked.”
“Of course you are.” Robby set to trimming his pieces to size. Dennis watched his hands and willed his body to calm the fuck down. “Are you going back to Nebraska for the holidays?” Dennis felt acutely lightheaded when he spotted a pink tinge on Robby’s cheeks.
“No. Not planning on going back anytime soon.”
“Good.” Robby sounded…relieved? Dennis’s eyes stung. “I usually work through them. We order in some food. Patient stories get pretty crazy by default. Fun is probably the wrong word but…it’s nice.” The prospect of sitting around this same table with a PTMC crew felt slightly sweeter than Dennis expected.
“I hit him back, last time I saw him.” Dennis admitted.
“You’re a braver man than me.” Robby smiled softly when he said it but the weight of the words were crushing.
Dennis couldn’t help it.
He slid his fingers across Robby’s knee again.
They both ignored the touch for the most part. They focused on staying still…working through the dull stinging pain of applying the dressing.
Robby’s work was firm, tight enough to support Dennis’s nose through a sneeze but not severe enough to hamper his breathing. “Aim for this degree of tension when you change it out. Biggest game we’ll be playing now is making sure that septum doesn’t give out on you. Higher risk with multiple breaks.” Robby noted. Dennis nodded, suddenly exhausted. Adrenaline crash was a bitch. “Still with me?”
“Yes sir.” The honorific leaked out. Dennis carefully rubbed at his eyes. Robby flattened a lifted edge on the tape stuck to his cheek with his thumb.
“It’s gonna be hard, but try to avoid rubbing your eyes like that.” Dennis nodded. “Do you need a minute?”
“No. I just. I…really appreciate you. Thank you for this.”
“I’m sorry this happened here.” Robby sighed. “First time I took a punch up here…it brought back uh, unpleasant memories.” He admitted. Dennis pressed his lips together so they didn’t wobble. He nodded.
Weird, weird, weird. This whole day. Fucking weird.
“No pain no gain, right?” Dennis said, clearing his throat. He abruptly realized he was still touching Robby’s knee. He took his hand back.
“Don’t let Dana hear you say that.” Robby tapped Dennis on the shoulder with a loose fist. They cleaned up their mess, just in time for maintenance services to come through and sterilize. They hovered together in the empty hallway just outside of the door.
Guilt poured itself into every crevice of Dennis’s body as he watched people clean his blood off the floor. Little dots had hit the tile when Robby sponged him down.
“Shit.”
Robby grabbed his shoulder one more time, as if to shake him out of it.
“Hey. Change your scrubs. Finish your charts and head out.” Dennis nodded. There was only an hour left in the shift anyway and he was certainly behind on patient notes. “Text me if you need anything stronger than OTC pain management. I’ll take another look at you on Monday.”
“Thanks. You uh…t-take care.”
“You too, Dennis.”
He tried not to hyperfixate on whether Robby had ever used his first name before.
Dennis did a pretty good job not thinking about it, actually.
It progressed quickly to not thinking about anything at all.
His head went to a soft, fuzzy place as he entered the floor again. Everyone checked on him. His shoulders hadn’t been squeezed in this many one armed hugs since his church camp days.
Dennis finished his charting and managed not to think about anything other than breathing, even on the way home.
Trinity gave up on needling responses out of him, eventually leading him up to the apartment by the wrist as she ranted about the tiff she had gotten into with Jesse today about the superior StarTrek novelization. Her voice sounded far away, like it was coming from the next room.
Dennis did almost too good a job of not thinking.
The autopilot driving his mind took one look at his face in the mirror and promptly hit the disaster relief button. Dennis raided the first aid kit beneath the sink and found the pack of nitrile gloves, breath hitching.
He turned the shower on and ripped his scrubs off, tossing them vaguely towards the hamper behind the door.
His brain stayed beautiful, smooth, and empty until he touched the finger of the glove to his tongue.
The first thought that forced its way back into his cognitive awareness was explosive.
Dennis recalled the way Robby’s finger felt on his mouth and on his face and in his hair. He wrapped a hand around his undeniably present erection and moaned raggedly into the wad of nitrile crushed up in his palm.
His face had been so fucking close.
Touch me.
Touch me.
Touch me.
Something between a whimper and a whine leaked out between his teeth as he stroked himself a little bit too hard and a little bit too fast. He stumbled back against the shower tiles and let the glove dangle between his teeth. He sucked on the finger as he thumbed the tender bridge of his nose…just a little. The bright spark of pain kicked off the orgasm from the small of his back.
You’re okay.
Sound and thought rushed back in like a tidal wave. The fuzzy edge on things cleared.
Dennis panted. A sluggish awareness took over, processing the fucking glove in his mouth and cum spatters up his chest.
You’re so fucked.